Customer Reviews

Ritual De Lo Habitual

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

first off, I'll say that I find Ritual to be a more musically interesting and challenging album than Nothing's Shocking. the band takes more risks and tries to accomplish more, and it's a breathtaking, mind-boggling achievement for a group of musicians. that being said, I prefer Nothing's Shocking because I find that one to be a more powerful and affecting album. but they're both works of genius, and belong in the collection of any serious fan of music. note that I said music, not rock or alternative or punk. because the two albums are significant and masterful enough that they can't be limited to a genre.

now, then. there's been a lot of talk in these reviews about Three Days and Then She Did, and I feel compelled to share some knowledge with my fellow Amazon customers.

Three Days is not just a song about a heroin-fueled weekend with two girls. it's a memorial of sorts to a girl that Perry loved, a girl who was a budding artist, who ODed before achieving her promise. yes, some of the lyrics are about one lost weekend, but it also commemorates everything about his lost friend ("we miss you, my dear Xiola..."). this theme was carried forth into Then She Did (the original title was Then She Died) and Perry addresses his dead friend in the last stanza, asking her to say hello to his own dead mother when she gets to heaven: "will you say hello to my ma, will you pay a visit to her, she was an artist just as you were, I'd have introduced you to her..."

that's pretty powerful stuff. this album was clearly not intended to please rock critics and semi-literate music dilettantes with short attention spans. the two songs I've discussed are songs with a purpose, a message to convey, and emotions to share with the world. and they are epic works of musicianship. Three Days is like four distinct songs weaved together into one amazing masterpiece. it always carries enough power to justify its length, and it never gets dull.

none of what I've said here is intended to convert people who don't like the songs. nor should it affect your opinion. I do believe a song should stand on its own merits without a five-minute explanation. the songs clearly stand on their own and have power and meaning, without justification. but maybe, for the people who already love the songs, love the album, and actually get what the band was trying to do, these bits of information will add to your appreciation of the work and show you some more of the depths of their achievement.

If you listen to bands like Nickelback, Puddle Of Mudd, and Staind, chances are two things are the case: a), you're a complete lame-o and you need to stop letting mainstream radio tell you what to think, and b), you've never heard "Ritual de lo Habitual." This is yet another of those albums that I regret not having gotten a lot sooner. Long before the bands mentioned above were making the genre look bad with their manufactured angst and laughably tedious songs, Jane's addiction were playing music that made the term "alternative rock" mean something. If you've just heard the uber-catchy hit "Been Caught Stealing," you've only heard the beginning of what the guys achieved here, as this album displays virtually limitless amounts of talent and creativity. In the singular vocalist Perry Farrell and staggeringly underrated guitarist Dave Navarro, Jane's addiction were led by doubtless one of the great one-two punches of our time. Dave's searing riffs and blazing solos are the kind that get stuck in your head for days after you hear them, and Perry's demented wail remains distinctive and instantly recognizable to this day.

What's most impressive about "Ritual de lo Habitual" is that its nine tracks are basically split into two different, if equally great, albums. The album starts out with five hard-driving rock songs with a psychedelic feel, equal measures explosive, trippy, and funky. "No One's Leaving" and "Been Caught Stealing" are the obvious standouts among this first batch of songs, but each one displays the band's own mix of manic, frenetic energy; intricate songwriting; and astounding technical skill. These songs have the sound of a group of guys who truly enjoy what they're doing, a commodity that's becoming increasingly rare in today's mainstream climate.

It's after "Been Caught Stealing" that the band throws a series of changeups, showing a commitment to diversity and experimentation that truly separates the artists from the hacks. The last four songs on this album are typically slower and quieter than their predecessors, but by no means lacking in power or craftsmanship. You've got to respect a band that would follow up a string of hard rock songs with the mountainous epic "Three Days," the slow-burning "Then She Did..." and "Classic Girl," and the captivating, Eastern-tinged "Of Course."

Unfortunately, history hasn't been quite as kind to this album as it was to the likes of "Ten" or "Nevermind." I don't think it gets the recognition it deserves as one of alternative's defining moments, but discerning fans should be able to appreciate its greatness pretty quickly. "Ritual de lo Habitual" gets my highest recommendation.

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. However, in response to the review at the top of the page, I would just like to say that anyone who finds the song, "Three Days" boring, should just stop listening to music altogether, because they just don't get it. That is one of the most powerful, interesting, and moving songs I have ever heard. It starts out really mellow, and just builds and builds for about 8 minutes, and then explodes in a magnificent frenzy. I absolutely love all eleven minutes of that song. Also, "Then She Did" is another of the most moving songs I have ever heard. It is so powerful that everytime I hear it, I get goosebumps. It is my all time favorite Jane's Addiction song, with "Three Days" being 2nd. Those 2 are by far the best songs on this album, and are more than worth the price for this album alone. Other great tunes include: Stop, Classic Girl, Of Course, Ain't No Right and the song that was played to death on the radio and MTV, Been Caught Stealing. This whole album is brilliant, but "Three Days" and "Then She Did" are beyond comparison. I assume the reviewer must have a very short attention span. For I can think of no other reason for such ludicrous comments.

First introduction - Sonora Desert - 70 miles an hour - two great friends...blew my mind. Music cracked through the exoskeleton and set my mind and soul ablaze. Still has that same effect 15 years later...power, intensity, the crytal scalpel releasing the inner zen...one MUST eat the other, what bitter irony. If your worthy, this is some of the most challenging, intellectual-emotionally artistic music out there. It will create magnificant backdrops in the mind. Too much power contained within such a small grouping couldn't last. The sub nuclear assemblage went critical mass.

This is an album that will change your life...Three Days is one of the best songs out there, with it's odd time measurement, it's 5 songs in one sound...and the bombastic ending. There is not one bad song on this cd. I love jane's addiction.

And for D. Hermitz...uhh...Jane's Addiction was around BEFORE nirvana, and pearl jam, and rage and all those bands...they were influences on those bands. I know Kurt mentioned them as huge influences as did Anthony Kiedis. This cd is brilliant considering most of it was written circa 1986...far ahead of it's time. it still is

Blazing their way out of the decadent-yet-copycat LA rock/metal scene of the late ‘80s, Jane’s Addiction cut a perplexing figure in the era of phoffed hair and cheesy chord-riffs, unabashedly defining neo ‘art-metal’ and gleefully defying standard conventions on their way to the top. The appeal of Jane’s was, on the surface, a paradoxical one: Perry Farrell’s shrill howl and junkie frame coupled with Stephen Perkin’s tribal drum technique added an exotic mystique to Dave Navarro’s epic guitar workouts and Eric A’s booming, melodic bass. How could frantic heavy metal chords—-the red meat staple of middle-American angst-—be threaded with lyrics about pigs wallowing in blissful Zen and the search for a God who, I paraphrase, didn’t seem to be there at all? Yet they did. And Jane’s influence was multi-fold, far shadowing their more popular peers: in the span of two albums they foretold the sludge-despair of grunge by a few years while stirring in a heady dose of sunny enthusiasm that the coffee-drenched Seattle sound unfortunately lacked. Jane’s rocked, pure and simple, a mix of equal parts intellectual seeking and adrenaline release.

Ritual de lo Habitual is their best album, a hallucinatory epic that conjures images of neon-lit bordellos and crash pads, of needle fever, of the search for redemption through whatever means necessary. Like so many other great albums by great bands—including The Wall, the White Album, Who’s Next—Ritual was conceived and crafted in a difficult period for the band, with them right on the verge of implosion…yet from this tension was gleaned the best playing and compositions these individual players had come up with yet (and since). But enough ramblings; on with the music:

Ritual begins with a subversive Spanish "we love your children" prelude, an appropriate lull before the kickstart roar of 'Stop,' all heavy chords and culture-allusion-lyrics molding a breathtaking climax. 'No One’s Leaving' shreds into the stop-gap void that follows. Coming off a tad pretentious, this song is not one of Jane’s best by any means, but the rumbling bass roll and Cliff-Notes Nietzsche musings of 'Ain’t No Right' immediately rectifies the situation. “Ain’t no wrong now, ain’t no right,” Perry announces, “there’s only pleasure and pain”—the theme song of the Lost City if there ever was one; a dark negation of the Beach Boys ideal and comparable to the shimmering 'Hotel California' muse from a previous generation. 'Obvious' is a drifting shout-out to all those backstabbers and parasites the band undoubtedly encountered in their long tenure through the Cali club circuit: “I’ve worked my fingers to the bone and I won’t let you stop me goin’ up”—ironic, considering the band’s future, but effective nonetheless. Then the stutter of 'Been Caught Stealin’' reminds us that life shouldn’t always be taken serious, and to jokingly prove it stitch criminal mischief into the Top 40. Thus ends the fast and furious side of Ritual. Artiness and introspection follow, the self-indulgent genius that listeners will either passionately love or ardently despise, depending on perspective and individual experience.

'Three Days' is Perry Farrell’s masterpiece, a song he will probably never top…but what a way to go out. Composed in five sections, this epic about a Ménage a Trios begins slow and strings-laced, an acoustic prologue of hints and insinuations; before you know it Perkin’s low-thunder rhythms are glinting with the lightning grace of Navarro’s skillful chops. Thrash hammering takes over in the second half, sundering the beauty of before. The last breakdown, complete with inarticulate hurrahs and searing solos, winds the song into a sweaty, glorious finale. From this sound and fury chimes in a lone acoustic guitar, soon accompanied by orchestrated sweeps; in this, 'Then She Did,' Perry gets personal about departed lovers with blue veins and a mother who used to take him out “strolling through the garbage.” The eastern-tinged 'Of Course' gives us a mournful violin and wink-wink lyrics about childhood games: “one must eat the other”—then reverses the sexual intent with Ritual’s beautiful farewell 'Classic Girl.' “You know for us, these are the days,” Perry sings, reminding the youth of a fractured dream not to dwell to hard on life’s heartaches; that time slips away all too quickly. Grasp the glimmer while you can.

Ritual De Lo Habitual remains Jane's Addiction's finest hour. This album was released at a time when most rock albums were very straight forward, rarely straying from one type of music. Along with their strong debut album Nothing's Shocking, Jane's Addiction helped change the musical landscape by taking metal, punk, rock, alternative music, and psychedelia and adding violins and piano to create their own sound. The fact that they broke up after this album makes you wonder what limits they would have taken music had they stayed together.

The album, perhaps intentionally, features their harder, noisier tracks on the first half while concentrating on longer, very psychedelic tracks on its second half. The harder tracks "No One's Leaving" and "Ain't No Right" are great, highlighted by Eric Avery's excellent bass lines. "Stop!" and "Been Caught Stealing" were the hits off the album and both still sound great today. "Obvious" is also a cool tune with Dave Navarro's noisy guitar playing and the piano flourishes throughout the track. Then there's the second side. "3 Days" remains their best song, beginning with Perry Farrell's quiet vocals over Avery's bass before drummer Stephen Perkins comes in with a jungle beat and Navarro playing a wild solo as the track continues to gather momentum. The track gets very mellow around the 8:00 mark before picking up the intensity at its end. An awesome track. The other psychedelic tracks "Then She Did..." and "Of Course" are fantastic, featuring most of its emphasis on Farrell's high-pitched vocals and the violins and strings. The excellent "Classic Girl" concludes the album and is one of the strongest tracks here. Everything here is great and this surely ranks as one of the ten best rock albums of the '90s. Although the band would reunite years later and continue to make good music, this album remains as their master work. Highly recommended.

Someone once said that Jane's was popular because they managed to combine the hit-me-in-the-crotch riffage so adored by metalheads with the cerebral shoegazing of the alterna crowd. Whatever the case may be, here's an album that hits all the emotional notes.

The first half IS hard rock. Energy pumping classics like Stop! and of course Been Caught Stealing manage to be visceral, interesting, unique, and most of all fun.

The second half is slow and epic and gorgeous. It starts with Three Days (which is the song that will be playing when I arrive at the pearly gates) and ends with the most beautiful song ever recorded, Classic Girl. And in between, healthy mixes of Indian rhythms, melodic bass lines, and atmospheric guitars take you places that you've never been, and quite frankly, will never see again.

Maestro Perry Farrell (peripheral?) once said that if you're an artist and you reach #1, then you're doing something wrong. The artist is there to challenge the audience, not pacify them. I don't know if they ever reached #1 with this, but even if they did, I don't see how they could be doing anything else but.

As great as NOTHING'S SHOCKING is, Jane's really pulled out all the stops on this one. I'd have to say this is their best effort and truly one of the greatest albums ever. Balls-to-the-wall rockin' combined with highly innovative songwriting, this album is appealing to alt-rock, hard-core and the heaviest heavy metal fans alike.

"Stop!" - knocks me on my ass every time with those whirlwind guitars. I love the female spoken intro in Spanish - someone told me she says something like "We are not born of this earth . . ." (wish I spoke Spanish) *****

"No One's Leaving" - another killer - "I don't care who plays as long as the game is on." Perry's voice is truly like no other's. It may be too grating for some, an aquired taste for others, but I love it. It's very expressive and as scratchy as it is, he can still hit the right notes. *****

"Ain't No Right" - love the spacey "My sex and my drugs and my rock n roll" intro . . . then that hyperkinetic bass comes in before the song blasts off into the stratosphere. When it comes to rockin' hard, it's tough to beat the first three songs on this album. *****

"Obvious" - unusual sort of art-rocker with a jangly piano hammering away. A fitting tribute to closed-minded morons who can't contain their bigotry and contempt for people a little different from themselves. ****

"Been Caught Stealing" - the one you've probably heard over and over if you've been reduced to listening to corporate rock radio (which will surely become obsolete in the not too distant future). A really fun song about the joys of stealing. My dog always gets exited when she hears the barker at the beginning. *****

"Three Days" - a towering epic over 10 minutes long. It's a masterpiece that starts off really creepy and takes you to fantastic heights. *****

"Then She Did . . ." - another extended song and another masterpiece. Absolutely majestic and compelling. Gorgeous orchestral accompaniment. There's even a great jazz piano there in the middle too. *****

"Three Days" and "Then She Did . . ." are the album's centerpieces. They really transport the listener to places far beyond your typical rock music. A big thanks to D.I. "djcrowley" for his insight on these 2 songs. I had some idea what they were about but you were very enlightening. It makes perfect sense that "Then She Did . . ." was originally titled "Then She Died."

"Of Course" - strange Middle-Eastern flavored song with trippy violin. ****

"Classic Girl" - really is a classic. It's a really sweet song. *****

... and this is the last, most literate treatise on the sparks that fly between those three discrete phenomena that I can remember. Nothing has come close ever since: this is the quintessential Los Angeles spaced-out, drugged-out rock slab upon which millions of minds were soul-sacrificed since the day of release.

"Ritual" is a bright light among the used bins, screaming out at you from two (!!!) distinct and meaningful slices of cover art, and if memory serves me, I snatched up both for the hell of it. The first listen was at a party on a sweltering summer afternoon into spacy hot evening, the CD thrust upon me by a buddy who was also in a pretty popular indie-rock band at the time who claimed to have been inspired and changed already, two days after its release. I bought it the next day. I made out to it, listened to it on road trips, put it on mixtapes for friends, stared at the cover, set it in stone. I carried the novena thingy in my wallet for a while too.

A little context: the pseudo-political ramblings of a very heady Perry were consistent with the open-eyed awakening of (true) gen-X youth of the time: a time when there was no internet spoon-feeding and word-of-mouth was the order of the day. I seem to recall a real stream of interest in generational politics and a true alternative ethic: Fugazi and the whole DC thing were exploding in air, Douglas Coupland had just written his book, China and Eastern Europe were simmering and worldwide global crapola was everywhere. The state of the environment was resurrected as a social issue. We were finally figuring out that we had to live in a world with something called AIDS. Even frivolous pop-culture stuff like "My Own Private Idaho" was part of this generational, twenty-something awakening. "Ritual" was the soundtrack to this revolution of the mind that seemed to be erupting in my heart and those of my friends. Something was changing.

The album is brilliant. Nothing is filler. It was like a scream from L.A., and the music was all over the map. Perry's vocals were attacks. The rhythm section was apocalyptic and buzzing. And good grief - Navarro - the first Guitar God of the 90's - what ground he didn't cover in the initial five tracks is mopped up with sonic reverb and melancholy in the end, a wan, wasted vision closing with the underrated "Classic Girl", a sunset to a sonic excursion on a scope with the very best epic rock from any era. This was the 90's at its doorstep, and "Ritual" set the tone for the entire decade, with a truly astonishing and fertile underground scene earthquaking in its afterglow. Everything that came after seemed to spring from this source: from Jawbox to grrl rock (Babes, L7, and so on), from shoegaze to garage rock (did MBV and Dinosaur really tour? what I wouldn't give today), from music to movies to political activism to interpersonal change... everything just erupted after "Ritual". Just erupted.

The importance, vision, and intensity of this album cannot be overstated. It's one for the ages.